Chile sends experts to Honduras to investigate prison disaster

TEGUCIGALPA – This afternoon, the first group of experts from Chile’s Legal Medical Service (Servicio Médico Legal), or SML, arrived in Honduras to collaborate in the identification of the victims of the Comayagua prison, where a fire left more than 350 inmates dead.

Their arrival was confirmed by the Minister of Justice, Patricia Pérez, who hopes that the four experts who left early this morning will be able to start their work immediately.

The remaining eight professionals will arrive in Honduras tomorrow, and will collaborate with local authorities on how to best use their skills to help out however they can.

“The Servicio Médico Legal and the Civil Registry are both services of the Ministry of Justice, which has gained experience in tragedies, not only what occurred in San Miguel prison, but also in other unfortunate events that have afflicted the country, such as the earthquake and the tragedy of Juan Fernández,” said the Minister on Chilean TV station Canal 13.

The group of 14 specialists, two of which belong to the Civil Registry, will stay in Honduras for approximately two weeks. Among them are thanatologists, forensic orthodontists and biochemists who will investigate the tremendous loss of life at the prison.

The director of SML, Patricio Bustos, explained that “the identification process would involve fingerprint analysis, forensic dentistry, or, if neccessary, comprehensive genetic screening.”

Of the 820 prisoners that were housed in the prison, only 475 survived the blaze. These figures may change before too long, since there are several critically injured people still in intensive care at the hospital.

The Honduran government has declared three days of national mourning and President Porfirio Lobo ordered various government agencies to provide the assistance to the police and prosecutors.

The government of Chile has expressed its condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, and their hopes and prayers for a quick recovery for the wounded.

President Piñera had a telephone conversation with President Lobo in which he expressed solidarity among the Chilean and Honduran people during this tragedy.

February 16, 2012

http://ilovechile.cl/2012/02/16/chile-experts-honduras-investigate-prison-disaster/48363

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Volta Lake Disaster: 10 Bodies Retrieved As Boat Owner Flees

Ten bodies including a three-month-old baby have been retrieved from the Volta Lake at Krachi West after a boat with 12 passengers onboard capsized on Sunday.

The coordinator of the National Disaster and Management Organisation (NADMO) in the area, Amudu Baba Seidu, confirmed the incident to Citi Eyewitness News on Monday. He said the boat, which was travelling from Keta to Krachi West hit a stamp in the lake resulting in its wreckage.
He said the 10 people who died included four children and six mothers.

“On the boat they were 12, but when the boat capsized 10 died and two were able to swim across the river. Four were younger girls including a three-month-old baby and then six were mothers,” he said.

Mr. Seidu said all the 10 victims have been identified and relief items are being sent to their families, adding that NADMO would also help offset the bills for the burial of the victims.

According to Mr. Seidu, the owner of the boat managed to escape and has since not been found.
He, however, indicated that the matter has since been reported to the police for further investigations.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

http://www.ghananaija.com/news/2012/02/volta-lake-disaster-10-bodies-retrieved-as-boat-owner-flees/

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Search for disaster victims held on Fukushima coast

SENDAI — Some 100 officers from the Miyagi Prefectural Police force conducted an intensive search Monday for remains near an elementary school in Ishinomaki that lost 70 of its 108 students to the quake and tsunami on March 11.

Nine of the 13 teachers and administrative staff at Okawa Elementary School also died, and four students and a teacher are still listed as missing, along with 45 other residents of the Okawa district.

Police searched the Fuji River, which runs in front of the school, and have dammed up the waterway for about 1.3 km in order to dredge riverbed mud in the search for remains.

"Our search operation will not end as long as there are missing people," one of the officers said.

In Fukushima Prefecture, police began a three-day search along the coast Sunday for people still listed as missing inside the no-go zone around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

On the first day of the three-day search operation, which involved around 300 officers, including personnel loaned from other prefectures who are being deployed within the zone for the first time, efforts were focused on the Ukedo district in the town of Namie, where around 120 people died or remain missing.

The Fukushima Prefectural Police force has been reinforced with 350 officers from Tokyo and 21 other prefectures, and 145 of them have been assigned to deal with the increasing number of thefts in the hot zone.

"I am acutely aware that huge scars have been left by the quake and tsunami," said Koji Tanaka, a 30-year-old police officer from Saga Prefecture who joined Sunday's search.

"Since Saga also has a nuclear plant, I'm thinking every day what we should do if a similar disaster occurs." he said.

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120221a5.html

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Christchurch begins grim memorial

A special cemetery for victims of the February 22 earthquake was officially opened today - a day before the one-year anniversary of the Christchurch disaster.

The unidentified remains of four earthquake victims were laid to rest earlier today in a communal grave at Avonhead Park Cemetery in the west of the embattled city.

Four of the 185 people who died in the disaster, and whose remains could not be formally identified, were buried in a single casket in a private interment ceremony.

The victims: Shawn Lucas, 40, of Christchurch, Rhea Mae Sumalpong, 25, Philippines, Elsa Torres De Frood, 53, Peru, and Valeri Volnov, 41, a Russian-born New Zealand resident, were all in the CTV building that collapsed and caught fire, killing a total of 115 people.

At 6pm, Christchurch mayor Bob Parker officially unveiled a memorial plinth to the unidentified, and unfound, victims of the killer magnitude-6.3 quake ahead of tomorrow's poignant and emotional first-year anniversary.

Mr Parker, who has pledged funding for the interment site from the Christchurch Earthquake Mayoral Relief Fund, said earlier that the Avonhead Park Cemetery interment site will provide a "special environment" for everyone to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and remember those who lost their lives.


Hundreds gathered at the cemetery for the unveiling tonight, including Prime Minister John Key, Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae, high-ranking police officers, and foreign dignitaries.

Anglican Bishop Rev. Victoria Matthews told the gathering during a solemn 15-minute service that the memorial plinth would "point us to the future" and "comfort us in our sorrows."

More than 20 bereaved families have accepted the Christchurch City Council's offer of a burial plot dedicated to those who died in the killer magnitude-6.3 earthquake.

Many of them gathered at the service tonight, with family groups hugging and supporting each other during the ceremony, especially when young singer Taylor Roche performed a touching rendition of 'Amazing Grace'.

After the short service, the families were asked to lay flowers at the memorial, and the media was asked to leave, to allow the families to grieve and pay tribute to their loved ones.

Avonhead Park Cemetery was identified as the most appropriate city cemetery by officials, especially as it has not been affected by liquefaction which has plagued large areas of the city after the large earthquakes.

The location of the cemetery site, and the design, were also developed "with close consideration given" to the victims' families.

The "inner circle" of the gravesite has been reserved for the unidentified remains held by the chief coroner following the close of the victim identification process.

The central feature is a striking memorial, intended as a gift from the city, which includes six granite plaques featuring words, repeated in English, Filipino, Maori, Russian, Spanish and Braille, saying: 'Etched in our City's memory, never to be forgotten. The City of Christchurch.'

A stainless steel band around the memorial says: 'The people of Christchurch will forever remember the unfound victims of the 22 February 2011 Earthquake'.

Another plaque reads: 'Interred here are unidentified remains recovered following the 22 February 2011 Christchurch Earthquake'.

Each victim will have their own granite plaque and the cemetery is open to the public from tomorrow.

Earlier in the day, the Governor-General and Lady Janine were welcomed to Canterbury by Ngai Tahu at Rehua Marae.

The couple also visited Cashel St Mall and its unique container shops which have attracted worldwide attention since they opened after the mall was decimated in the February 22 quake.

Memorial services are being held across the city, and New Zealand, tomorrow to remember those who died in the disaster.

- APNZ Tuesday Feb 21, 2012
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10787083

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Death toll from steel plant blast in Liaoning rises to 13

SHENYANG, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a blast at a state-owned steel plant Monday night in northeast China's Liaoning Province has risen to 13, said local authorities and rescuers Tuesday.

The accident happened when a mold exploded at 11:30 p.m. Monday at a steel-casting workshop owned by Angang Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd. in the city of Anshan, according to a statement issued by the publicity department of the provincial committee of the Communist Party of China.

Ten people were found dead as of early Tuesday, while rescuers recovered the bodies of three workers who were previously identified as missing in the blast by Tuesday noon.

Another 17 people were injured in the blast and they were receiving medical treatment in hospital, said the statement.

Rescuers are searching for the missing worker. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

The state-run Angang Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd. founded more than 70 years ago, is one of China's largest machine manufacturers in the metallurgy industry, according to the company's website.

February 21, 2012

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/7735387.html

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Lagos may begin cremation of corpses as bill awaits passage

If members of the Lagos State House of Assembly eventually pass the Cremation Bill 2012 into law, then cremation of corpses, especially unclaimed ones will commence in the state.

The bill is titled “A Bill for a Law to Provide for Voluntary Cremation of Corpses and Unclaimed Corpses within Lagos State”, enacted by the state House of Assembly.

The lawmakers, in their submissions said that inability of relations to claim corpses of their relatives contributed immensely to the bad situation of the mortuaries in the state. It also uncovered that heaps of corpses at the state mortuaries can also lead to an epidemic situation in the state.

The purpose of the bill will be to establish a crematorium that will take care of unclaimed corpses and for voluntary cremation of corpses within the state to solve the problem associated with getting land for mass burial, and to decongest the state mortuaries, battling with cases of unidentified and unclaimed corpses.

According to Section 6 of the bill which talks about getting permission to cremate, the following persons may apply for a permission to cremate, a child or children of the deceased; a close relative of the deceased; an undertaker and an agent/legal representative.

Section 8 of the bill which talks about Cremation of unclaimed bodies at the state hospitals, states that the Medical Director of the state hospitals shall order for the cremation of unclaimed bodies in their respective Mortuaries after six weeks of which such bodies are not claimed, which shall be with the consent and approval of the Commissioner for Health.

Under Section 10 of the bill, which talks about dealing with ashes, the cremator in charge of a crematorium must not dispose of the ashes remaining after a cremation except in accordance with any reasonable written instructions of the applicant.

“However, the cremator in charge may bury the ashes in a burial ground if, within one year after the cremation, the applicant does not give reasonable written instructions for the disposal of the ashes.

TUESDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 2012

http://www.nigeriancompass.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12854:lagos-may-begin-cremation-of-corpses-as-bill-awaits-passage&catid=54:nigeria-today&Itemid=594

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Relatives storm Honduras morgue demanding remains

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras Hundreds of relatives of inmates who burned or suffocated to death in a Honduras prison fire have forced their way into a morgue to demand the remains of their loved ones.

Prosecutors spokesman Melvin Duarte says women and a few men pushed into the morgue, broke into a refrigerated container and opened at least six body bags.

He says police used tear gas to chase the people from the morgue in Tegucigalpa, which is Honduras' capital. He says no one was injured during Monday's confrontation, although at least one woman fainted.

The fire in a crowded prison last week in the city of Comayagua killed 359 prisoners. There were 852 inmates at the prison, more than double the capacity.

20 Febr 2012
Read more here: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/02/20/1834085/relatives-storm-honduras-morgue.html#storylink=cpy

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Unidentified Christchurch quake victims buried

The remains of four people who could not be formally identified after Christchurch's earthquake on February 22 last year have been laid to rest.

Four of the 185 people who died in the disaster were buried in a single casket in a private ceremony at the Avonhead Cemetery on Tuesday morning, ahead of a formal dedication of the internment site in the evening.

The unidentified victims were Shawn Lucas, 40, of Christchurch, Rhea Mae Sumalpong, 25, from the Philippines, Elsa Torres De Frood, 53, from Peru, and Valeri Volnov, 41, a Russian-born New Zealand resident, who were in the CTV building that collapsed and caught fire.

21 Febr 2012
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/12966179/unidentified-chch-quake-victims-buried/

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